Halloween special – our spookiest ever photo shoots

As All Hallows’ Eve edges ever closer and the nation turns ghoulish once again, we’re taking a look back at the NME stars that have explored their fiendish sides for photo shoots. First up, Biffy Clyro, who posed as The Devil’s Rejects a few years back.

Credit: Pieter M Van Hattem/NME

2/18

Art Brut held a seance with NME last year, but despite several hours on the Ouija board they couldn’t summon the ghost of their musical career.

Credit: Timothy Cochrane/NME

3/18

NME’s picture researcher Maddy Macrae donned the Grim Reaper’s clothes in London for a feature on the death of the independent record shop.

Credit: Timothy Cochrane/NME

4/18

Jack White dressed up in a top hat and magician’s cape in 2005 for a special NME photo shoot, the same year he sold his soul to the (corporate) devil and penned a tune for Coca Cola.

Credit: Dean Chalkley/NME

5/18

Remember The Scare? Probably not, but the Australian screamos had the odd good tune, and their name lent itself to nasty photo shoots like this blood-stained session.

Credit: Ed Miles/NME

6/18

Blood Red Shoes did the fiendish honours for us back in 2007, posing as characters from Carrie in a London shoot.

Credit: Mark Eilbeck/NME

7/18

Dave Grohl holds the severed heads of the Foo Fighters for the 2007 Halloween issue cover.

Credit: Sebastian Artz/NME

8/18

The fun continued inside the issue, with all four members getting their freak on.

Credit: Sebastian Artz/NME

9/18

Fever Ray are masters of dressing up and exploring their weird side, and this shot from last September is no exception. The first phase of their promotion campaign saw Karin reference an obscure tribe that painted goulish skeletons on their faces.

Credit: David Edwards/NME

10/18

Sons And Daughters take a breather during a break in rehearsing ahead of their Hallowe’en appearance at an in-store at Rough Trade East, London on October 21st 2007.

Credit: Drew Farrell/NME

11/18

Back before he was a chart-topping soul crooner, Plan B was trying to pursue a rap career (somthing he’s going back to with his next LP). It involved covering himself in fake blood for an NME photoshoot in mid-2006.

Credit: Ed Miles/NME

12/18

Gerard Way poses pre-red hair all the way back in 2004 while his bandmates mess about with knives and chainsaws.

Credit: Andy Fallon/NME

13/18

Welsh hardcore band Future Of The Left posed in a disused building in eastern Europe for their debut major feature back in 2007.

Credit: Andy Fallon/NME

14/18

Enter Shikari dressed as The Baseball Furies from the film The Warriors in 2007, an idea stolen from My Chemical Romance’s 2005 cover shot.

Credit: Joe Plimmer/NME

15/18

Mike Skinner holds a special funeral for his record label The Beats in December 2007. He later went on to drench the ‘label’ in absinthe and set it on fire.

Credit: Andy Willsher/NME

16/18

Liars turn Salem witches with the help of some pound shop props and fake blood back in 2004. The feature ran around the time they released ‘They Were Wrong, So We Drowned’, a record inspired by witch trials and folklore.

Credit: Pieter M Van Hattem/NME

17/18

Electronic singer-wongwriter FrYars poses in Nunhead Cemetary with a couple of knives for a 2007 NME Radar feature.

Credit: Tom Oxley/NME

18/18

Australian pop punkers Operator Please decided to dress up as The Addams Family back in 2007. Gypsy & The Cat and Mr Fogg play a special Halloween Ball tonight at London’s Club NME. Head to KOKO’s website for more info and tickets.